


I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

by Mungo_of_Maundery



Category: The A-Team (TV)
Genre: Apologies, BA and Murdock are best buds, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s05e06 The Say UNCLE Affair, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Psychosis, mental institutions (mentioned and some minor discussion), the team worries about murdock, very sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mungo_of_Maundery/pseuds/Mungo_of_Maundery
Summary: When the team get a phone call from the irate managers of an auditorium who say they've been gatecrashed by a man claiming to be Frank Sinatra, they have a tough job rescuing Murdock from the arm of the law. Hannibal worries that he owes his recovering pilot an apology for asking him to go undercover as a delusional mental patient. Apologising, however, means accepting that he's made a mistake, which isn't one of Hannibal's many skills.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

“You ain’t Frank Sinatra, fool!” B.A. takes Murdock by his lapels and shakes him.

“Un _hand_ me this _instant_!” Murdock shrieks, shying away. But his accent is slipping and with every second that passes he sounds less like Sinatra, and more like himself. “I am not accustomed – ”

“Let him go, B.A,” says Hannibal. Reluctantly, B.A. releases him, and Murdock straightens instantly, brushing himself down with quick, jerky movements, looking haughty and disdainful.

B.A. points at Hannibal. “This is your fault. If you hadn’t sent him in there, this wouldn’t have happened.”

B.A. leaves, slamming the door behind him. Frankie stares, from Murdock to Hannibal to Face and back again, eyebrows raised.

“Can you give us a minute, please, Frank?” Hannibal prompts, gesturing. He looks at Face, who picks up on the silent suggestion not happily, but obediently. Face guides Frankie to the door, and Frankie glances back at Murdock before exiting. From the doorway, voice dripping with sarcasm, Face says, “If you find Murdock anywhere, let us know.”

Hannibal sighs, feeling older than he has in years. Mistakes are not his forte, apologies even less so. But he owes Murdock an apology now, Murdock who is not himself today, and this time it’s Hannibal’s fault.

So, Hannibal swallows his pride and says, “If I’d thought there was a better way to pull this off, Murdock, I would have taken it.”

Murdock has sat down, still staring at the spot by the door recently vacated by Face.

“Murdock?”

Hannibal rises and moves to the couch where Murdock is. He pauses for a moment before sitting next down next to him.

At the movement, Murdock finally turns around, draws himself up a little and says, “There was an imposter in the auditorium. I was disrespected. Why wasn’t my manager there?” But his eyes are clearer now, and the Sinatra voice is transparent and without the conviction of belief. It’s an act once more.

“You, ah – ruffled a few feathers back there, Captain,” Hannibal says. He knows he’s dancing around the issue, procrastinating, but he’ll have to say it sooner or later. “We had a job convincing them to release you back to us.”

Something passes across Murdock’s face then which could be fear. He seems to deflate a little. “They’ll want to ship me right on back to the Bozo Barn.”

Hannibal shakes his head. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to go. It was – ” He has to stop again to gather himself. “ – it was wrong of me to ask you to go into the hospital back there.”

“Aww,” says Murdock. “I was only pretending, Colonel. Like you said.”

Staring Murdock down is easy, too easy. After a moment of Hannibal’s gaze, he looks away.

“The pretence got a little out of hand, huh?” Hannibal says, trying to make this gentler for both of them.

“How – how bad was it?”

Hannibal shrugs. “You’ve had better moments – and you’ve had worse.”

Murdock removes the fedora and runs a hand through his hair, before settling down to worrying at the brim of the hat with his quick-bitten fingernails.

“If you think you need to go back into the VA, I won’t stop you. We can look after your place here, and – ”

“I don’t wanna go back,” Murdock cuts in decisively.

“Then you won’t,” says Hannibal. “I – apologise, Murdock. What I asked of you was unfair, and I should have anticipated that it would be difficult for you.”

Murdock looks horrified. “I’m okay! Colonel, if you’re worried about what happened, you don’t need to be! I managed just fine – it worked, I did it, I’m okay – ” And he’s getting faster and faster, stumbling over his words frantically in his need to prove his usefulness to the team.

Hannibal grips Murdock’s upper arms. “Captain – _Captain_!”

Murdock stutters to a halt, breathing hard. Hannibal thinks maybe there are tears in his eyes, but then Murdock blinks and they’re gone.

"We wouldn’t last a day without you,” Hannibal tells him. “You’re needed.”

The pilot nods, and seems to be working through something painful before saying, “Even if – ”

“There are no ifs. We need you.”

Relief floods Murdock’s features and he smiles broadly.

“And, Murdock,” Hannibal adds, already feeling the relief of absolution but not wanting to get ahead of himself. He has to do this properly, for both their sakes. “Even if we didn’t need you, or if you couldn’t help us – we need you in other ways, too. You’re wanted here, with us, for as long as you want to be here. We’re your friends.”

Again, Murdock nods, but he looks happier now, and Hannibal finally starts to relax. Maybe, the Sinatra Incident will be an exasperating memory at worst, rather than a nerve-wracking one. Hannibal certainly hopes so. Even so, Murdock’s eyes trail back to the door and his feet rap on the floor restlessly, and Hannibal knows that the discomfort of straight-talking is getting to him, too.

“Do you want to stay here tonight, or do you want someone to drop you at your place?” Hannibal asks, the last acknowledgment he intends to give tonight that anything has been wrong.

Murdock places the fedora on the coffee table and stretches as they both get to their feet and head for the door, his arms reaching for the ceiling before dropping back down. “I’d like to stay here, Colonel.”

“Of course. You can come and go as you like, and we’re always happy to have you here.”

Murdock grins, and ducks out through the door.

And that’s that. Hannibal exhales silently. The cold, guilty feeling inside him has eased a little. Thank God that’s over. He shakes his head and follows Murdock.

They find the others in the kitchen. Face and Frankie are in the corner, Face teaching Frankie a card trick that seems to involve an elaborate switch of the wrist. Frankie hasn’t quite mastered it yet, for as Hannibal and Murdock appear the cards scatter in an arc across the floor. A look passes between Face and Murdock, a silent query and answer, and Hannibal doesn’t know exactly what is unspoken, but the tension visibly leaves Face’s shoulders and he goes back to instructing Frankie.

B.A. is sat at the table, staring at the backs of his hands. He rises as they enter, glaring at Murdock, daring him to say anything. Murdock has removed his tie and twists it in his hands behind his back nervously, but for once, he doesn’t take the challenge or try to test the limits of B.A.’s patience. “Hey, Big Guy,” he says, all smiles, and though one arm stays tense and tightly gripping the tie, his other hand comes up and he claps B.A. on the shoulder lightly, still keeping as much distance as the length of his arm will allow. B.A.’s face softens almost instantly at the familiar epithet. He mutters something inaudible and sits back down, and Hannibal suspects that all is forgiven on that score.

Hannibal finally thinks he’s safe to light a cigar and does so. “Murdock will be staying here tonight, fellas. Thanks,” he adds to Face when he offers him a light.

“And I thought,” says Murdock brightly, sitting down next to B.A. and sidling closer. “That I could bunk up in your room with you, B.A.!”

“You thought wrong, fool,” growls B.A., shrugging him off. “You ain’t coming _near_ my room tonight, or any night!” Which Hannibal knows means that Murdock will definitely be sharing B.A.’s room tonight. Murdock knows it, too, and pats B.A.’s shoulder again, delighted.

Hannibal can’t help but grin in satisfaction. Murdock is okay, and the others are, too. Hopefully, they can forget Stockwell’s existence for a little while in the enjoyment of each other’s company. Hannibal is quickly learning from his error in judgement, and this mistake, he reasons, only proofs him further against failure. He _does_ love it when a plan comes together.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first A-Team fic! hello! I hope to write many more. Also apologies to Frankie who I just realised has 0 lines in this bless him. The title comes from the Sinatra song of the same name. 
> 
> I felt that this part of the Say UNCLE Affair needed more addressing than the show gave it, so there we have it.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
